Ahhh help! how do you get a tape onto a computer??

Question

okay so i have one of those old school tapes, that are all small..

and i really need to get it onto my computer...ASAP!

please help! :)

thanks!

Answer 1

For miniDV and Digital 8 tape:

You will use the DV port of the camcorder connected to the firewire port of your computer with a Firewire cable... and with the camcorder in "Play" mode,

If you are using Windows: Launch MovieMaker and "Capture" the video.

If you are using Macintosh: launch iMovieHD and "Import" the video.

USB will not work. USB to firewire converter will not work.

Firewire, i.Link and IEEE1394a are all the same thing. You do not need the software that came with the camcorder.

For VHS, Compact VHS (VHS-c), Hi8 and Super8, and other analog video tape formats, you will need to connect the camcorder to an "analog/digital bridge" like

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us...

or

http://www.canopus.com/products/videocon...

Answer 2

If you have a mini dv (cassette) camcorder….

Your dv camcorder needs a firewire connection (ieee 1394) in order to download video, your PC probably did not come with a firewire port, so you will have to buy one and install it, since most computers (except possibly brand new) don't come with a firewire port, your camcorder did not come with a firewire cord so you have to purchase a cord too. Your camcorder did come with a USB cord and that is used for downloading stills from your camcorder. Make sure your camera is in playback mode.

If you have an analog (VHS) camcorder…

You need an analog converter, either internal card or external such as the dazzle. It's very easy to use and come with good software. You would hook your analog VHS camera or VCR to the analog converter, the dazzle and then hook the dazzle to your PC. The dazzle cost around 70.00 , but worth the money if you have a lot of VHS to tapes to convert.

If your analog tape is VHS-c, then you can get an adaptor for that type of tape and you can play it through your VCR.

Answer 3

Not exactly sure but it would involve playing the tape through the camera on the TV and having the TV hooked up to the video card.  Not sure what you would do if your video card did not have a coaxial cable hookup.  Some of the tapes have adaptors so you can play them in a VCR.